Before her daughter died, Lynya Cooper spent more than two years submitting documents to the Chicago Housing Authority explaining why she needed a wheelchair accessible unit.
Cooper’s daughter, Trebora Talbert, had a progressive neurological disease preventing her from walking or performing everyday activities on her own. The pair lived on the second floor of a building without an elevator, which meant Cooper often had to call a private ambulance company or the Chicago Fire Department to help Talbert get to and from her frequent medical appointments.
Cooper requested an emergency move in 2020 to an accessible CHA apartment, but found many units didn’t fit her family’s needs or she was told the family didn’t meet the requirements for the unit.
Talbert died just over two years later, with the family still living in the second-floor unit, according to court documents.
Cooper declined an interview request through her attorney.
Records show the CHA violated federal disability laws and the civil rights of residents like Talbert for at least eight years — leading to negotiations for a voluntary compliance agreement between the CHA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Court records show the CHA paid Cooper $525,000 last year to settle a 2023 lawsuit that accused the agency of failing “to provide her and her late daughter, Trebora Talbert, with reasonable alternative housing conditions.”
It’s not the first instance of the CHA neglecting its legal requirements...
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